Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement on the decision to withdraw combined science as a compulsory double subject at GCSE level in the national curriculum; what is his Department's assessment of the effect this will have on(a) the number of 16-year-olds studying science, (b) their total exposure to science subjects during their education and (c) the longer-term scientific literacy of British society.
§ Mr. Robin SquireThere has been no such decision. Double award science never has been compulsory at GCSE level. Sir Ron Dearing's final report recommends that the minimum statutory requirement for science at key stage 4—14 to 16-year-olds—should continue to be the single award science. Most 14 to 16-year-old pupils—around 85 per cent. when last sampled in 1993—do, however, take double award science, and we welcome that.
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Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what initiatives his Department is taking to encourage more young people at school to study science and to choose science subjects in higher education.
§ Mr. BoswellThe national curriculum ensures that all pupils, from the age of five to 16, study science. Most pupils in their final year of compulsory schooling—about 85 per cent. when last sampled in 1993—take the double award in science. That ensures that they are qualified for further study. In addition to the traditional A-level route, new high-quality vocational qualifications post-16 will provide alternative routes for students to continue their science and technology studies. General national vocational qualifications in science started a pilot phase in September 1993.
Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will publish tables showing the percentage of teaching time devoted to(a) mathematics, (b) physics, (c) chemistry and (d) total for all science
Schools and pupils in the London boroughs Table A: maintained primary schools 1 2 3 4 5 6 LEA Total number schools Total number GM schools Percentage GMS in LEA Total number pupils Total number GM pupils Percentage GM pupils Corporation of London 1 0.0 214 0 0.0 Camden 41 0.0 10,610 0 0.0 Greenwich 77 0.0 20,934 0 0.0 Hackney 69 0.0 16,677 0 0.0 Hammersmith 38 0.0 9,025 0 0.0 Islington 57 0.0 14,966 0 0.0 Kensington and Chelsea 27 1 3.7 6,292 326 5.2 Lambeth 78 5 6.4 19,053 1,250 6.6 Lewisham 70 1 1.4 20,479 361 1.8 Southwark 76 5 6.6 21,222 1,265 6.0 Tower Hamlets 74 0.0 20,717 0 0.0 Wandsworth 65 2 3.1 17,250 515 3.0 Westminster 41 0.0 9,122 0 0.0 Barking 54 0.0 15,727 0 0.0 Barnet 89 2 2.2 23,790 776 3.3 Bexley 65 2 3.1 18,596 447 2.4 Brent 65 1 1.5 22,228 493 2.2 Bromley 78 2 2.6 20,449 934 4.6 Croydon 98 2 2.0 26,271 836 3.2 Ealing 91 4 4.4 27,652 1,217 4.4 Enfield 70 1 1.4 23,316 149 0.6 Haringey 77 0.0 19,127 0 0.0 Harrow 54 0.0 19,109 0 0.0 Havering 74 0.0 19,624 0 0.0 Hillingdon 72 11 15.3 20,107 2,602 12.9 Hounslow 63 0.0 19,339 0 0.0 Kingston upon Thames 36 1 2.8 10,463 191 1.8 Merton 49 0.0 15,224 0 0.0 Newham 67 0.0 25,235 0 0.0 Redbridge 56 0.0 19,045 0 0.0 Richmond upon Thames 39 0.0 10,785 0 0.0 Sutton 43 3 7.0 12,884 799 6.2 Waltham Forest 62 0.0 19,705 0 0.0 Totals 2,016 43 2.1 575,237 12,161 2.1 620W
Table B: maintained secondary schools 1 2 3 4 5 6 LEA Total number schools Total number GM schools Percentage GMS in LEA Total number pupils Total number GM pupils Percentage GM pupils Corporation of London 0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 Camden 11 2 18.2 10,479 2,340 22.3 Greenwich 15 0 0.0 13,956 0 0.0 Hackney 10 0 0.0 7,384 0 0.0 Hammersmith 9 1 11.1 5,976 1,229 20.6 Islington 9 0 0.0 7,037 0 0.0 subjects for the average 14-year-old, 15-year-old and 16-year-old in (i) the United Kingdom, (ii) France, (iii) Germany, (iv) Italy, (v) Japan and (vi) the United States of America at the latest date for which figures are available.